I Promise
by ThePieFairy
Summary: Kadar Death fic. I didn't edit it or anything so I apologize for any lameness or horrible spelling, grammar, etc.


-Kadar-

Burning pain erupted in his chest and he let out an agonized cry as the sword pushed into him. He could actually feel as the blade ripped through him, snagging on muscle and spreading his ribs while it went between them to pierce his lung just below his heart. Each beat of his heart made the wound around the sword pulse as blood poured out and stained his robes.

"Kadar!" He heard Malik cry from across the room. His blue eyes slid leisurely over to him and his knees gave out, making him fall to his side as if in slow motion. He watched helplessly while Malik tried to cut down the Templar's to come to his aid, but it only made him sloppy. A man got through his defense, landing a hard blow with his sword to Malik's arm.

The scream of pain was muffled but Kadar still heard it through the fogginess that was starting to come over him, making everything seem farther and farther away. He tried to lift his arm to the sword sticking out from his chest, it was far from comfortable but his arm simply twitched.

"Kadar? Can you hear me, brother?" Malik said, his voice shaking and cracking. Kadar looked up at him, eyes going straight to the wound on his arm that was bleeding almost as bad as his own injury. Malik wouldn't be able to get them both out alive.

"M-Mal," Kadar's voice was barely above a whisper and each breath he took rattled in his lungs from the blood filling them. He coughed and his mouth filled with the hot fluid, the coppery taste making him sick as he spat it out to speak. "You h-have to get out. L-leave me, you ca-can't get us both out a-alive." He gave his brother a weak smile when he tried to argue, stammering over his words in his hysteria. "No, brother."

"I will not leave you here!" Malik yelled. Kadar closed his eyes so that he wouldn't have to look at the pain in his brother's expression.

"We'll both die if you d-don't go. You can't carry me out w-with that wound." He coughed again and ended up choking and retching from the amount of blood that came up. Opening his eyes again he looked down at his injury, seeing the sword buried within him. Even if Malik could carry him to safety he wouldn't survive. He looked up to his brother and tried to hide the sadness in his eyes as Malik seemed to realize the same thing.

Malik took his hand into his own, which was so hot against his skin that it felt like it could burn him. He glanced at their hands and saw that his skin was nearly the color of his white stallion. Malik's hand tightened its grip to stop from trembling, "I will never forgive myself if I leave you, Kadar."

"You need to make sure Robert De Sable doesn't get the—" He was silenced as his lungs forced him to gasp, running out of oxygen as the blood filled the space inside them. His brother wiped away the blood as it spilled out of his mouth until he could finally breathe again.

"Brother…" Malik said softly and cupped his cheek in his hand, his eyes glistening with tears. "I promise I will come back for your body." His voice broke on the final word and he squeezed his eyes shut as if to force back his emotions.

The two of them tensed as voices came to their ears; Templar's. Malik looked to Kadar, squeezing his hand and slowly releasing it to take his sword in his grasp. He leant down and pressed his forehead against his brothers, feeling cool skin and knowing that his brother would be dead before he got back to the horses. "I will return soon, Kadar."

-Malik—

That had felt like a lifetime ago that he'd made that promise. Not a day passed that he didn't think of Kadar, dying alone on the stone. It ate at him so much that he'd lost weight and looked years ahead of his age.

Malik walked with Altair through the Temple and each step that brought him closer to his brothers' body seemed to grow longer. Altair didn't say anything, somehow understanding that Malik was better off left to his thoughts. Which he was, anything said would've been ignored if he heard it at all. He was deep in thought.

Dreams had plagued his sleep; sometimes Kadar's ghost would be begging him to help him, to return and save him, or that he could never forgive him for leaving him behind. Other times Kadar would show up alive, explaining that he'd somehow managed to crawl to safety and heal. Malik didn't know which nightmares were the worst; the ones that blamed him for everything, or the ones that tormented him with what he'd never have back.

The dreams darkened his sleep but memories, what if's, and wondering what had happened after he left haunted him while he was awake. He couldn't imagine what it had been like for his brother.

-Kadar-

Kadar watched Malik go, longing to get up and follow him or hold off the Templar's to aid his escape. He simply closed his eyes so that the Templar's would assume him to be dead instead and hated himself for it. Once they'd passed and the sounds of their footsteps faded he reopened his eyes to stare up at the ceiling.

What now?

The pain was fading away as the life left his body and he shivered. The blood covering most of his body was losing its warmth as it dried. His heart was pounding in his ears so he noticed when it began to slow and painfully skip beats.

He turned his gaze away from the ceiling and landed on the body of a fallen Templar sprawled nearby. The man had died already, his life snatched away by a stab wound directly to the heart which was almost in the same spot as Kadar's. Blood was still seeping from the wound, which meant that the heart had just recently stopped.

Kadar looked around the room and counted three more bodies, one of them was still alive and breathing in gasps. At least they weren't alone; Kadar thought to himself, but who would die first and leave the other to suffer?

As if sensing Kadar's gaze the man looked over and froze, looking helpless and scared. Kadar pulled his eyes away. The other was breathing even faster now and making choking noises. The blue eyed Assassin couldn't stare at him while he died; he'd allow the man privacy in his final moments. Only a few more noises came from the Templar before silence filled the room.

Water started to drip down from the ceiling and land on Kadar's face. The water was warm but splashed into his eye with every drop, irritating him. He summoned up the last of his strength and lifted his arms, grasping the sword and pulling it from his body. Pulling the weapon out was surprisingly painless, unfortunately the blade had helped to slow some of the bleeding when the wound swelled around it and now the blood was flowing in rivers from the hole.

With the remaining strength Kadar crawled away from the dripping water to a dark corner where no Templar's would notice him at a glance. If they came back for the bodies of their men he didn't want them to take him away. They'd probably toss him to wolves or the poor for food, wolves more than likely.

He finally managed to drag himself to the corner, leaving a trail of blood behind him. He'd never seen so much blood in his life; not even when he'd had to butcher a bull. His head swam from moving and he collapsed on his side, closing his eyes and panting for breath. It was hard to breathe at that point and impossible to get a full breath.

All his thoughts went to Malik as he lay there, waiting to die. Tears formed in his eyes as it finally hit him that he was going to die. He'd never see his brother again and now he wished that he hadn't told him to go, he needed him, he was scared. His whole body trembled from fear, pain, and cold.

He'd never feared death, it was unavoidable after all but now he knew he was silly not to fear it. If he'd been afraid of death he would have lived, actually lived. Without the dark cloud hanging over his head reminding him that the next day could be his last he'd taken everything for granted; his horse, the sun, the wind, sight, smell, hearing, and his brother most of all.

His heart stuttered painfully and he coughed, trying to clear his lungs so he could breathe but it was useless. He drew what he knew would be his last breath and sobbed, "Malik…"

-Malik-

Malik let Altair enter the room first, afraid of going inside only to find his brothers' body gone. The air felt heavy and thick, almost like someone had an iron grasp on his body. God, what would he do if the body was gone?

"He is here," Altair said from inside and Malik released a breath he hadn't known he was holding. At least the body hadn't been taken away by someone else.

He summoned up all the power he could and stepped into the room, eyes automatically going to the place he'd left Kadar. There was a pool of dark, dried blood but no body. His heart skipped a beat before he remembered Altair saying that the body was there. Malik then noticed that the blood smeared in paths that lead him to the remains of his brother.

As soon as he saw the body, what was left of it, his eyes filled with tears of pain, relief, and longing for what he lost. The body was definitely Kadar's even though he couldn't be recognized. Malik identified the robes, the wound in the same place, and the swelling in his heart that could only be brought on by his brother.

He approached the body with Altair a few steps behind him and crouched, "I kept my promise, Kadar."

The two of them laid down a blanket and moved the body to lay on it before wrapping it for transport. They carried it out of the Temple without speaking and then brought Kadar's remains to the horses, securing it to the spare horse they'd brought. Malik thought it was only right to use Kadar's favorite white horse for this, even though the stallion was ill tempered and had the personality of a viper.

They traveled to the burial site where they'd already dug out a grave and tied up the horses. The body was moved to the grave and laid inside, still inside the blanket. Malik's gaze never left his brother as he and Altair stood in silence.

It stayed silent except for the noises of nature for several minutes before Altair spoke, "Do you want to say anything before we burry him?"

Malik glanced at him and bit his lip; what could he possibly say? He'd spent all his time since Solomon's temple mourning Kadar, dreaming of having him back. Now he had to let go of the chances of getting him back forever.

Then he realized that he would never stop missing his brother; it would always be that way. He just had to let go of the worry. "Kadar…" He started and swallowed down the lump in his throat, "I don't know what to say. I was right when I said that I'd never forgive myself." He had to stop again to force back tears, "And I don't think I ever will but I hope that you will. I want you to know that you'll never be truly gone to me. I'll still do the things that we used to in your memory and… I'll keep your damn horse happy since I know how much you liked him."

He smiled through the tears and felt his heart lighten a little, "I love you, baby brother."


End file.
